Hummingbird Feeder

[The auction for this object, with story by David Levine, has ended. Original price: $3.00. Final price: $19.50. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to Girls Write Now.]

“You can enjoy this. I left it outside. I am on a walking tour of the Arctic, a dark figure against a white landscape. But I’ve got a roomful of color inside me — translucent colored plastic rayguns, marbles of bakelite and amber, hanging by strings from the ceiling, diffusing light through their surfaces as they turn.

“You should never have criticized it; you should never have faulted it. Just imagine if I had bought it. If I’d let my guard down for one second, and bought it. Along with a rainbow kite. And some unicorns, and the multicolored coffee cups… And every other thing I’d buy if I let my guard down for just a minute. The room would rot, vegetally, because of the colors. Like a Thai brothel without the humidity…
“I don’t recognize myself. I look at my walls, their austerity, the reserve of my furnishings, and I don’t recognize myself. What am I hiding, and from whom? One joyous, translucent, strawberry-shaped birdfeeder, hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier… one explosive gift for those of us vulnerable to color… what would it say about me, to a stranger? What does it say about me to you?

“It looks like my heart. You don’t like it? Fine. I left it outside. I am on a walking tour of the Arctic. You can dispose of this as you please. The birds won’t mind. It’s empty.”